So the Lions took to Port Phillip Bay to ease their wounds from the previous day’s 61-point defeat against Carlton at Etihad Stadium.
The Club was notified of their predicament at around 6pm last night and immediately began altering their arrangements in preparation for next Saturday night’s match against Richmond at the Gabba.
Coincidentally, the Lions’ Round 13 opponents were also left stranded in Sydney after playing the Swans on Sunday.
Fortunately for the Lions, they were able to secure transport through SITA Coaches and an additional night’s accommodation courtesy of the St Kilda Road Parkview Hotel and The Sebel Hotel.
Virgin Blue was also a wonderful help in being able to arrange for the team to fly back to Brisbane at 4pm this afternoon.
Lions midfielder James Polkinghorne said that despite the setback, the Lions were still doing everything in their powers to prepare for Saturday night’s match against the Tigers.
“It’s obviously not ideal, but there are plenty of people across Australia who have been inconvenienced by the situation including a couple of other footy clubs,” Polkinghorne said.
“You probably won’t get too many better June days in Melbourne, so it’s not so bad staying down here.”
“The boys were just lucky to be able to bunk together at the St Kilda Road Parkview hotel. They were good enough to put some food on for us as well at late notice.”
“We’re not changing our schedule too much. We’ll do our recovery, have our team meetings and arrive back in Brisbane tonight in time for tomorrow’s training sessions.”
